Motorized Blinds

[bills.hancock@gmail.com]

Just wondering about recommendations for motorized blinds for Homeseer.

Hunter Douglas
- Unfortunately, I had Hunter Douglas motorized blinds installed in the house - prior to getting involved in my own home automation. It would appear that HD blinds do not integrate well with HS3.
- Is that still the case?

Alternatives
- There are several locations around my house that I am slowly adding blinds to - I would like an alternative solution that could be monitored and controlled with HS3
- I have reviewed the Bali motorized blinds and seen some decent how-to's on installation with Homeseer
- Is Bali a decent solution?
- Also looking into the Somfy route - but have seen some comments on the z-wave interface not working well with HS3

Anyhow, just looking for some insight and recommendations from people with experience in the motorized blinds department.
Thanks.

[sparkman]

I think there are ways to integrate the HD powerview system. There are a few threads on the forum about that. Here's one: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ho...gration-plugin. I have been using Bali/Graber blinds for about 6 months now and they work very well and integrate easily with HS. The only drawback with them is they don't have motorized top down/bottom-up blinds, but I did not need those for our house. HD blinds were also a lot more expensive than the Bali blinds, the quotes we got were about 2.5x the quotes for the Bali blinds and given the easier integration, it was a no-brainer for us.

[logman]

I looked at several options and then went the el-cheapo route with LinkShades https://www.linkshades.com/ . They are controlled with wifi and a phone app, and for many people this is good enough. But I wanted them integrated with HS, so I removed the Wifi controllers and replaced them with Qubino Z-Wave Shutter Controllers. Works great. Now when we go to bed our Withings bed sensor tells the blackout shades to automatically lower in the bedroom. And then they open the next morning after we've been up for 10 minutes.

--Barry

[b_weijenberg]

The RFXtrx433XL & RFXCOM plugin supports many roller blinds motors as Somfy RTS, Dooya, Rollertrol and many other. LucciAir fans,
Besides this it can also receive sensor like Oregon Scientific, FineOffset, Maverick BBQ, sauna sensors, Kerui security sensors...

[bills.hancock@gmail.com]

I am looking into the HD integration
- I have been using the HD blinds for a while now and I am not impressed with the HD wireless system
- It is not very reliable and setting up scenes has been a complete PIA.
- I have an excellent signal from the HD hub to the blinds, but it doesn't seem to register scenes cleanly
- Had the installer out several times, and he indicates that this is problem with HD...no other explanation.

- I don't really have a need for the up/down blinds - I prefer the blinds with alternating sheer/opaque sections - Bali appears to have several of these varieties.

- Question I have for anyone using the Bali solution - how good/accurate is the position of the blinds. For example, can the blinds be set to 65% open?

[sparkman]

- Question I have for anyone using the Bali solution - how good/accurate is the position of the blinds. For example, can the blinds be set to 65% open?

Yes, you can do that. They basically behave similar to a dimmer. I control mine very granularly based on the position of the sun and set them to varying percentages throughout the day.

[Rvtravlr]

I am a contributor to this indiegogo campain for wood blinds. They are supposed to ship this month so I can’t comment on how well they work.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/i...t/x/18220228#/

[Fellhahn]

The RFXtrx433XL & RFXCOM plugin supports many roller blinds motors as Somfy RTS, Dooya, Rollertrol and many other. LucciAir fans,
Besides this it can also receive sensor like Oregon Scientific, FineOffset, Maverick BBQ, sauna sensors, Kerui security sensors...

+1 For the RFXcom route, I am using the RFX433trx-XL to control a generic motorised blind (Dooya brand motor I think). The control works perfectly.

These motors only have a single programmable preset position though. To set to various positions like 10, 20, 30 you'd probably have to work with timing the commands.

[freeon]

I am a contributor to this indiegogo campaing for wood blinds. They are supposed to ship this month so I can’t comment on how well they work.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/i...t/x/18220228#/

Same hear. Can't wait to get them. Hopefully they were worth the wait.

[EricE]

Another vote for the Bali zWave blinds: https://www.baliblinds.com/motorization/

I've had them installed for a while, but I just integrated then with Homeseer and it couldn't have been easier. Well, after I actually followed the instructions and removed the already paired Bali supplied remote (which is a really cool wall mountable 2 button zwave switch!).

If you are looking for something no-fuss that works out of the box from a major manufacturer that will be supported, then these blinds certainly do the job. And they were 1/3 the cost of the Hunter Douglas blinds that were almost 10 years old, and I never could get the Global Cache IR emitter thing to learn their codes/control them. I'm very pleased with these blinds!

[bills.hancock@gmail.com]

Thanks for the reply... I'm definitely going that route

[pcgirl65]

EricE I am also looking at the Bali blinds for two of my windows. Are you happy with them? What do you mean that you removed the already paired Bali supplied remote?

[avpman]

Just wondering about recommendations for motorized blinds for Homeseer.

Hunter Douglas
- Unfortunately, I had Hunter Douglas motorized blinds installed in the house - prior to getting involved in my own home automation. It would appear that HD blinds do not integrate well with HS3.
- Is that still the case?

Alternatives
- There are several locations around my house that I am slowly adding blinds to - I would like an alternative solution that could be monitored and controlled with HS3
- I have reviewed the Bali motorized blinds and seen some decent how-to's on installation with Homeseer
- Is Bali a decent solution?
- Also looking into the Somfy route - but have seen some comments on the z-wave interface not working well with HS3

Anyhow, just looking for some insight and recommendations from people with experience in the motorized blinds department.
Thanks.

I'm currently testing five sets of Iblinds (Myiblinds.com). They're a zwave controlled retrofit for your 2" blinds. A very well thought out product, easy to install and use. To avoid the hassle of connecting a charging cord, I added the solar panel to each blind. Power levels easily stay at 100% with the cell. Zwave parameters can be set to adjust the blinds to your liking (i.e. completely closed up or own, percentage of closure, etc.)

[bills.hancock@gmail.com]

I am removing the blinds. After one year, I have had nothing but problems. It does not integrate well with homeseer. Yes, they do work. They just don't work well. Takes a lot of fiddling to get them to function. It's much easier to use IFTTT app. After one year, one of the blinds no longer responds. It is stuck in the up position. I've had to factory reset the device multiple times. Just an unhappy experience. The newer devices seem to have better integration/wireless options. I don't think Z-Wave is the way to go for blinds.

[avpman]

Yep, the V3 blinds (with solar recharge panels) are what I'm using. I believe rjh has a good handle on improving the zwave plugin and taking it forward. No special plugin is needed for the blinds. They work as native devices in HS. 👍

I am removing the blinds. After one year, I have had nothing but problems. It does not integrate well with homeseer. Yes, they do work. They just don't work well. Takes a lot of fiddling to get them to function. It's much easier to use IFTTT app. After one year, one of the blinds no longer responds. It is stuck in the up position. I've had to factory reset the device multiple times. Just an unhappy experience. The newer devices seem to have better integration/wireless options. I don't think Z-Wave is the way to go for blinds.

Iblinds? They have an improved V3 model that I'm using. I can't speak to the older versions.